Analyzing passing networks in association football based on the difficulty, risk, and potential of passes
Peer reviewed, Journal article
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2019Metadata
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Original version
International Journal of Computer Science in Sport, 2019, 18 (3), 45-68Abstract
This paper investigates the use of network analysis to identify key players on teams,
and patterns of passing within teams, in association football. Networks are
constructed based on passes made between players, and several centrality measures
are investigated in combination with three different methods for evaluating
individual passes. Four seasons of data from the Norwegian top division are used
to identify key players and analyze matches from a selected team. The networks
examined in this work have weights based on three different aspects of the passes
made: their probability of being completed, the probability that the team keeps
possession after the completed pass, and the probability of the pass being part of a
sequence leading to a shot. The results show that using different metrics and
network weights leads to the identification of key passers in different phases of
play and in different positions on the pitch.
Keywords: network analysis, pagerank, centrality, sport